Pope Benedict XVI urged people to overcome indifference to the poor and share what they have with the needy as the Roman Catholic Church marked Ash Wednesday, which begins the austere period of personal sacrifice and reflection known as Lent. "Lent is, in the end, through almsgiving, the occasion for sincere sharing of gifts received with one's brothers and for attention to the needs of the poorest and abandoned ones," Benedict told pilgrims and tourists at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. On Wednesday night, Benedict will celebrate Mass in a Rome basilica on the Aventine Hill. He will place ashes on the head of the faithful, a gesture symbolizing mortality. Benedict told the audience that the imposition of ashes, in all Catholic churches, is an "austere and symbolic gesture." ... http://www.usatoday.com

Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships struck a militant hide-out Wednesday in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing more than 45 fighters including a Chechen commander linked to al-Qaeda, officials said. One civilian and a soldier were also reported dead. The raid came just days before a visit by President Bush to Pakistan during which the fight against al-Qaeda and loyalists of the former Taliban regime will be on the agenda. The militants had entered Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region after they carried out an attack inside Afghanistan, said Syed Zaheerul Islam, the top government administrator of the region. Three helicopter gunships attacked their mountain hide-out in the early morning near Saidgi, a village about nine miles west of Miran Shah, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-03-01-pakistan_x.htm?csp=34

Town officials say a school resource officer followed policy when he handcuffed a 10-year-old boy and drove him home after a playground scuffle. "The student was handcuffed because the officer felt the student's safety, as well as the safety of the other children, was at risk," according to a statement released by the town Tuesday. The statement said officials would not release further information "out of respect for the family." Avon Elementary School Principal Barbara Collins said school policy under such circumstances is to send a student home, but the officer handcuffed the boy on Feb. 17 without her knowledge. "The officer acted independently of the schools," Eagle County School District Superintendent John Brendza said. "I don't condone it. He didn't communicate what he intended to do." ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/01/national/main1357686.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1357686

Almost 100,000 Muslims shouting "Death to Bush" and "Bush go back" marched through the streets of central Delhi this morning, hours before the president touched down in India.With many of India’s 150 million minority Muslim population, the world’s second largest, angered by US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, extraordinary measures are being taken to protect the President and his entourage. The exact timing of Mr Bush’s arrival in Delhi was kept secret and the five-star hotel where the President and First Lady are staying was cleared of guests several days ago.Army helicopters guarded the flight path of Air Force One and Delhi’s international airport was shut down for the evening. Indian commandos have been deployed on the streets and US marines were patrolling the capital’s airspace....http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2064622,00.html

Bombings in Baghdad killed 26 people and four others died when mortar rounds slammed into their homes in a nearby town Wednesday, the second day of surging violence after authorities lifted a curfew that briefly calmed sectarian attacks. Saddam Hussein's trial resumed, with the former leader telling judges he ordered the trials of Shiites who eventually were executed in the 1980s and said their lands should be confiscated, but he insisted that those actions were not criminal. The trial then was adjourned until March 12. A spokesman for the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars blasted the government for failing to stanch sectarian attacks that have pushed the country closer to civil war. "It is clear that the government and its security forces are incapable of taking any action," said Abdul-Salam al-Kubaisi, a spokesman for the Sunni clerical group. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1674172&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used against protesters at abortion clinics, ending a legal battle that has gone on for 20 years. The high court's 8-0 decision effectively bars efforts by pro-choice groups to bankrupt the pro-life movement by using federal anti-mob laws against protest groups, claiming that such organizations were violent criminal conspiracies. But in his 15-page decision for the unanimous court, Justice Stephen G. Breyer ruled that "physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion," such as demonstrations by abortion opponents at clinics, "falls outside the scope of the Hobbs Act," the federal extortion statute enacted in 1946. "Congress did not intend to create a free-standing physical violence offense ... the Hobbs Act defines 'extortion' as necessarily including the improper 'obtaining of property from another,'?" concluded Justice Breyer, who was appointed by ...http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060301-123444-2009r.htm